Result of Service
The work of the consultant will contribute to the implementation of the UN Development Account-funded project on ‘Financing NbS for Green and Inclusive recovery,’, which seeks to support Brazil in delivering the SDGs and the commitment under the Paris Climate Agreement and the Kunming- Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework while promoting the socio-economic objective of poverty reduction and food security for all. The work of the consultant will also contribute to UNEP’s ‘Nature’, ‘Biodiversity,’ and ‘Finance and Economic Transformation’ Programmes.
Duties and Responsibilities
UNEP is the voice for the environment within the United Nations system, acting as a catalyst, advocate, educator, and facilitator to promote sustainable development through the effective use of the global environment. Its Industry and Economy Division plays a leading role in the Green Economy Initiative, which aims to shift national economies towards a sustainable trajectory. By doing so, it seeks to ensure that growth is driven by increased investment in green sectors and a transition of consumers’ preferences to sustainable goods and services. Located within this Division, the Resources and Markets Branch examines how economics, trade, and finance interact with the environment, thereby contributing to sustainable development at the local, national, regional, and global levels. It does so by working with countries through analytical studies in partnerships with UN agencies, intergovernmental institutions, governments, academic institutes, businesses, and civil society organizations to support the shift to an inclusive green economy. Among its areas of work, the Economic and Trade Policy Unit supports global green fiscal policy revision efforts by advising countries on how fiscal policies can support the inclusive green economy and thus delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals across different sectors, particularly agriculture. One of its partner countries, Brazil, has developed a large-scale agricultural system in the past decades. However, the successful development of this sector has come with dire consequences for ecosystems and has reinforced a system of historically unequal land distribution. Much of the current production framework can be attributed to state support with policies of fiscal incentives, many of which are socio-economically distortive or environmentally unsustainable. Thus, it will be necessary to promote the efficiency of fiscal policy mechanisms for nature-based agriculture and related sustainable economic sectors. This is particularly true as the introduction of the RenovAgro and the reform of the Plano Safra policies have reinforced the scope for public incentives to support farmers to adopt deforestation and conversion-free production practices. UNEP is leading a project in Colombia and Brazil, entitled “Financing Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for a Green and Inclusive Recovery in Latin America”. Funded by UNDA with additional financial support from the government of Luxembourg via UNEP’s Climate Change Division, this project seeks to strengthen the capacity of partner countries to develop and implement policies and strategies to scale up public and private investments and finance for nature to support sustainable, inclusive, and resilient food systems for a green recovery from Covid-19 in Latin America. This project will develop a national study and toolkit, sharing its findings with national governments and promoting mutual learning through South-South Cooperation between the two countries. UNEP is leading the State of Finance for Nature (SFN) initiative, which quantifies public and private finance flows to NbS to tackle global challenges of biodiversity loss, land degradation and climate change. The SFN aims to inform public and private actors on progress mobilizing finance to reach key targets to limit global warming, halt biodiversity loss and achieve land degradation neutrality. SFN also tracks finance flows from public and private sources that have a direct negative impact on nature. The SFN initiative is expanding to undertake national studies on NbS finance flows and investment needs. Brazil is the first pilot to test how the SFN approach and methodology can be transposed to the country level and how to tailor the analysis to specific policy issues. The consultant’s responsibilities will include: • ‘Financing NbS for Agriculture’ Project (80%) – Coordinate with the implementing partner to produce an updated workplan and budget for the project. – Coordinate with the implementing partner to provide the support needed to establish the governance committee. – Coordinate with the implementing partner to organize and report on a workshop for the national launch. – Coordinate with the implementing partner to organize and report on five Governance Committee meetings, supporting the finalization of the technical documents necessary for their success. – Coordinate with the implementing partner to organize and report on a workshop for a mid- term workshop, during which initial findings from the analytical study and toolkit will be shared. – Coordinate with the implementing partner to conduct explicit preliminary analysis on the areas within the project’s scope – Coordinate with the implementing partner to draft and incorporate subsequent feedback on an analytical study and toolkit, ensuring quality control on the final English and Portuguese versions. – Coordinate with the implementing partner to organize and report on a final workshop, during which project results will be reported and the next steps will be discussed. – Coordinate with the implementing partner to support the organization of a virtual knowledge exchange with Colombia on lessons learned. – Undergo any other actions required for project execution. • SFN Brazil Report (20%) a. Further develop the SFN Brazil study by: – Identifying data available at the national level on NbS finance flows and integrating it into relevant analysis, adjusting estimates as needed. Data from a range of sources should cover finance flows to nature from public and private sources, as well as nature-negative finance flows, including public environmentally harmful subsidies and private nature-negative flows. The consultant should ensure that additional data and analysis are consistent with the definitions and methods of the SFN 2023 global report and technical annex. – Reviewing and potentially re-working the investment needs section and identifying options on how to expand analysis and narrative, while exploring other sources of information on future investment needs for NbS in Brazil and how this relates to investment needs for the bioeconomy. – Further develop the section on recommendations based on a review of recent policy and socio-economic developments, bringing in additional material including recent government policy reports and documents. – Drafting a short annex on how the implementation of the global SFN approach and methods needs to be adapted to the national context. b. Engage with government and other stakeholders by: – Working with the UNEP country office to engage government ministries and other key national stakeholders (e.g. BNDES) to review the existing analysis and findings, identify additional data and further analysis needed, and opportunities for uptake of SFN findings, and how methods can be adapted to inform country-level efforts to track and scale nature finance. – After collecting feedback on the current report and reworking and further developing the report, circulating the revised report to key stakeholders in Brazil, organize a workshop, collating feedback and integrate into a final version of the report (documenting feedback received and how it is reflected in the revised report). – Exploring avenues and partners to publish the revised report at end 2024 or Q1 2025. – Engage continuously with government ministries to ensure SFN analysis and findings are relevant and useful for policy development. – Identifying opportunities to present, disseminate, and profile SFN at key events in Brazil to maximize exposure and get broad-based feedback and buy-in. – Engaging with non-state actors active in nature finance tracking (e.g. UNDP BioFin, Climate Policy Initiative) to explore synergies and collaboration at the national level.
Qualifications/special skills
Master’s or equivalent in economics, public policy, environment policy or related field. • At least five years of work experience, with at least two years in public policy with a focus on public finance and/or agricultural finance; • Strong analytical and research skills, with the ability to synthesize and communicate complex information and generate actionable insights, are required; • In-depth knowledge of agricultural policies, economic dynamics, and sustainable development issues in Brazil is required; • Knowledge of fiscal policy measures in the agricultural sector is an advantage; • Experience in working with the Brazilian government and the UN system on the theme of fiscal policy and/or sustainable agriculture is an advantage.